Lean Hog Futures Rise Amid Increased Open Interest and Pork Stock Build
Lean hog futures rose in Friday trading, with August contracts up $1.20 for the week amid increased open interest of 442 additional contracts. The USDA reported a decline in national base hog prices to $99.37 but noted an increase in pork stocks by 9.44% compared to last year and 0.7% from May's end, reaching 458.22 million pounds as of June 30. Meanwhile, the CME Lean Hog Index climbed another 40 cents on July 22 to $97.48. Managed money traders reduced their net short position by over 12,000 contracts in the latest CFTC Commitment of Traders report for the week ending July 21, bringing it down to a still significant level of 18,157 contracts. Federally inspected hog slaughter last week totaled 2.268 million head, below both the previous and year-ago weeks by nearly 30,000 and over 55,000 head respectively.
Topics: hog futures pork stocks USDA data